Second Nature
by emebalia
Summary: After a werewolf hunt gone wrong the Winchesters have to deal with the aftermath.
1. Chapter 1

**Second Nature**

Dean cursed under his breath. He remembered how excited he'd once been about a werewolf hunt but now that seemed to have been a lifetime ago. And not long enough. This was still too close to Madison. Sam had been off his game since they'd found out that this was another werewolf.

At least this one was a dude so the chances were slim that Sam got romantic with their perp, Dean mentally kicked himself for even thinking that, however, there had been an instant bond between Sam and this Dave guy. C'mon, young, brilliant college guy with a dead girlfriend? That hit way too close to home. Until they'd found out that it had been Dave who'd ripped his girlfriend to shreds. He didn't know it and it wasn't really his fault, wrong place, wrong time and all that, but that didn't change the fact that they had to put a silver bullet in Dave's heart. Sam was tearing himself up over that before they even had the chance to kill this guy.

And now it was the last night of the full moon and they were running around in circles without finding Dave the werewolf. It was raining, too.

Dean looked around in search for his brother without finding him either. Great, now he'd lost sight of Sam.

Dean cursed a little more and wiped the rain out of his eyes. That damn thing had to be here somewhere. Gank that mother, get back to the motel for a hot shower and then drag Sam to the next bar and fill him up. That was the plan.

But now Dean was cold to the bone and soaking wet, what had started as a drizzle was now a pouring rain which left him with a visual range of shit point zero. No sign of the werewolf. Maybe he'd been smart enough and had stayed home. Watching _Lassie_ or whatever werewolves did for fun when they weren't ripping their girlfriend's heart out.

"Sam?" Dean raised his voice but if there was an answer from Sam it was lost in the clatter of the rain. "Just awesome."

Dean turned around and trotted back to the car. They knew who it was so they didn't have to wait until the next full moon to wrap this hunt up but they had hoped to stop Dave before he had the chance to kill again. Maybe the rain had scared him off.

"Yeah, as if we're ever that lucky." Dean muttered.

Then there was a scream and a shot and Dean took off running.

"Sam!"

They were at the car. Only illuminated by the dim light coming from the not properly closed trunk Dean could barely make out the broad figure that was his brother struggling with who he guessed was Dave the werewolf.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, gun trained at the scene in front of him but he couldn't get a clear shot, not without risking shooting Sam.

Sam had lost his gun and was now fighting the werewolf with bare hands, mainly trying to keep the teeth away from his throat. Dean ran faster. He had to get closer and shoot the bastard before he sank his teeth in Sam's flesh.

Before Dean could close the distance, Sam got hold of the lid of the trunk and slammed it upwards. With a satisfying _thud_ followed by a very dog-like yelp it hit the werwolf in the face.

Covering his bloody mouth with both hands Dave the werewolf stumbled backwards and Sam didn't waste time and dove for his gun. Dean didn't waste time either and as soon as Sam was out of the line of fire, he sent the bullets flying.

When Dean reached the fallen man, the werewolf looked like college boy Dave again and rain was pooling in his open eyes.

"Poor sucker."

Dean turned towards Sam who sat on the edge of the trunk, catching his breath.

"Nice move with the lid." Dean stepped closer, observing first his brother then his car. "Dude, are there frigging teeth marks on my car?"

Sam didn't response to the playful teasing, didn't even lift his head. He just sat there, hunched over.

"Sam?" Dean swallowed thickly. "Are you hurt?" _Say no, say no, saynosaynononono._

"Got me with the claws." Sam straightened up, took a deep breath and lifted his jacket to have a look at his side.

"Claws?" Dean stepped closer to have a look as well but he couldn't really make out more than torn shirts. Just like him Sam was wet through and through and in the light from the trunk it was impossible to tell more than that there was blood mixed in the water dripping from his brother.

"Sam, just claws?" Dean repeated his question with barely concealed fear. "You sure?"

Sam nodded and Dean let out the breath he was holding.

"Okay, let's get back to the motel and fix you up." Dean guided him to the passenger side and then hurried around the car.

While Dean slipped in the driver's seat Sam used the better light in the front to inspect his wound more properly.

"How bad?"

"Not bad." Sam answered but there was something in his voice.

"Sam?"

Slowly Sam lifted his head and all of a sudden he looked like a scared five-year-old.

"Dean, I'm not sure."

tbc


	2. Chapter 2

Dean felt like he hadn't slept in a month. Which came close to the truth.

They didn't know.

A month since the werewolf hunt, a month since Dean had cleaned his brother's wounds and had put a few stitches in his side. Sam's injuries had mostly been scratches from the werewolf's claws. Nothing too bad. He had worse.

Or maybe not. There had been this one scratch. Just a scratch but in the wrong light it had looked like it could have been something else. Something worse.

A month of not knowing.

Sam didn't react to silver. Which meant nothing. They didn't know if he should react. Even Bobby wasn't sure if a werewolf reacted to silver before his first turn.

Bobby had offered his place. They could stay there as long as they wanted and Dean was pretty sure that offer was mainly directed at him. For the time after. After he'd shot his brother in the heart. Or after he'd watched his brother doing it himself. Memories of that clinic and of Sam who had been ready to shoot himself because of the demonic virus came to mind. Dean doubted Sam's strange immunity to the virus covered werewolf bites. He still had hope, though. That is, if Sam had been bitten. Which he might not have been.

Sam and Dean had only shared a glance before Dean had refused Bobby's offer. However this was going to end, they wanted to be alone for this.

_Save him or kill him. _His father's last words echoed nonstop through Dean's mind since that night. How could he save Sam from something like this?

They had spent the month with research. Dean knew more about werewolves now than he'd ever wanted to know. There was too much lore about them, conflicting lore, but at one point they were consistent. There was no cure. One bite and you were done for. Silver bullet through the heart. Sayonara.

When it came to be too much Dean had escaped from the motel room for a few hours to do some maintenance work on his car.

"Don't worry, Baby." He spoke softly to the car when he was sure that Sam was out of ear-short. "I'll let Bobby know where we're going. He'll take good care of you if …" His voice broke and he blinked against the tears he'd never let Sam see.

Dean worked the dents out of the trunk lid, changed her oil and gave her a proper wash. Anything to get his mind of the screaming in his head.

When it was time they rented a hunting cabin. It was off-season and the isolated building was even more isolated at this time of the year. Like a month ago it was raining, actually it had never really cleared up since then, turning the road into a muddy path, and the car came close to getting stuck more than once. But she made it. Like she always did. She never failed them.

"I'm sorry, Baby." Dean apologized when he saw the mud coated wheels and the dirty slashes covering her up to the roof. "I'll make it up to you when we get back to civilization."

Sam had gotten out of the car as well and together they looked at the cabin. This was it. They would walk out of this door together in the morning. Or not.

Without a word they got their bags and Dean loaded his gun with silver bullets. He tucked it in the back of his jeans and didn't look Sam in the eye.

The cabin wasn't big but comfortable with two bedrooms, one with a king-size bed, the other one with bunk beds.

Dean put the bag with groceries on the kitchen counter and had a look in the cabinets. Nothing fancy, however, this was more of a kitchen than he'd seen in years.

"You hungry?" Dean asked over his shoulder while he put the meat and other perishable food in the fridge. "I can make cheeseburgers."

"I'm not hungry." Sam came out of the main bedroom. "The framework of the bed looks solid enough."

The bottle of milk nearly slipped out of Dean's suddenly numb fingers. Why had he even bought milk? Neither of them really liked milk.

"Sam." He placed the bottle in the fridge and closed the door. The front was covered with some fake wood stuff. Dean closed his eyes.

"Dean." Sam's presence was right behind him now and Dean didn't have to look to know that Sam's hand hovered only inches over his shoulder, unsure if the gesture of comfort was welcomed. As if Dean was the one who needed to be comforted.

"I need a drink." Leaving the rest of the groceries on the counter Dean grabbed two glasses and the bottle of whiskey and fled to a chair in front of the cold fireplace.

Reluctantly Sam followed him and sat down in the other chair. Dean poured them their drinks.

"This is good." Sam nodded approvingly after his first taste.

"It better be." Dean leaned back in his chair and examined the amber liquid in his glass. "Most expensive bottle I ever bought."

They drank in silence for a while, just enjoying each other's presence.

They didn't drink enough to get drunk. Dean would have loved to drink himself into oblivion but he'd need a clear head … later. But he wondered if it would be a good idea to get Sam drunk.

"I had enough." Sam covered his glass with his hand when Dean tried to pour him another one.

"You sure?" Dean asked, offering him an easy way out. Sam would wake up hung over in the morning or with a silver bullet in his heart.

"I want to be myself." Sam fiddled with his glass. "For as long as possible."

"You're a whiny drunk anyway." Dean set the bottle aside. "Poker?"

That brought back memories and the way Sam tensed he thought about Madison too.

It was still early in the afternoon, plenty of time to kill, so they played a few hands but neither of them was paying much attention to the cards. One time Dean accidentally threw away a straight and when he realized it a second later he found that he couldn't care less.

"You remember this one time at Bobby's?" Sam broke the silence. "I'd watched _Gremlins_ for the first time and you …"

"I convinced you that they were based on the real deal, breaking cars and stuff. That there were still some living in the old car wrecks around the place." Dean shook his head in amusement. "You wouldn't set a foot in the junk yard."

"I still have my eyes out for gremlins every time we're there." Sam said in a dreamy voice.

"Oh boy." Dean chuckled and for a moment he could breathe again. "I really did a number on you."

"Yeah." Sam threw the cards on the table and leaned back in his chair. "But I got you good, too. Remember Mr. Steven's German Shepherd? What was his name?"

"Ringo." Dean let the "R" roll over his tongue. "Thought he'd eat me alive."

"Never saw you running that fast in your life." Sam couldn't hold back the laughter. "And you nearly killed me when you found the burger meat in your back pocket."

Lost in childhood memories they didn't notice the hours flying by and all too soon they had to turn on the lights. Dean was even less hungry by then and he didn't even mention dinner.

Sam checked his watch. "Moonrise is in about an hour."

"We don't know if moonrise is the moment …" Dean couldn't finish the sentence. Instead he watched his brother who stood up and went over to the supply bag they'd left near the door. "Madison needed to fall asleep too …"

"To turn." Sam finished for him. "Yeah, I know. But we don't know if that's the rule."

Dean knew that. Some lore spoke of moonrise, other of midnight and in some versions a person could turn at will.

"Better safe than sorry." Sam came up with a bunch of handcuffs. Four to be exact.

"You have to be kidding me." Dean strode over and tried to snatch the cuffs from his brother but with his freakish long arms Sam held them out of reach with ease. "I'm not tying you spread-eagled to the bed."

"Dean, you have to." Sam gave him that sad look of his and Dean hurried to look away. This was not the moment to get weak.

"One." He held up a finger to make his point. "I'm cuffing one of your wrists to the frame and that's it. You probably have to stay the whole night like that."

"I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Dean made the mistake and met his brother's eyes. He wanted to say more but he couldn't get the words past the lump in his throat.

Sam went to the bathroom and a few minutes later he came back in his sleepwear, sweatpants and t-shirt.

"I know about men dying in their boots but this is kinda embarrassing." He plucked at his shirt, the purple one with white and pink flowers on the chest. One of his favorites for sleeping. "Wouldn't be caught dead in this." He let out a hollow laugh.

"You're not going to die." Dean answered on reflex. "Why are you wearing it anyway?"

"It's comfy." Sam led the way to the bed. "And you bought it for me."

"As a joke. You were not supposed to actually wear it." Which was probably the reason Sam wore it so often, just to annoy him. And it was not warming Dean's heart.

Sam only smirked at him and slipped under the covers. Then he stretched his arms out.

"Both." He said and locked eyes with Dean.

"Sam."

"Dean." All of a sudden the bravado was gone and Sam's eyes shone with unshed tears and he looked scared. "Please."

"Okay." His voice sounded raspy even to his own ears. "But tell me if it gets uncomfortable."

After he'd secured Sam's wrists Dean tucked the blanket in around him just like he had when they were kids.

"This is going to be a long night." Dean took his place in a chair next to the bed and put his gun on the nightstand. Sam followed every of his movements with wide eyes but didn't say a word. For a long minute his gaze was fixed on the gun before he visibly forced himself to look somewhere else.

"I'm not sure if I can sleep." Sam admitted.

"We still have the whiskey." Dean offered. "Or I can knock you out."

"Just because I can't hit you back right now."

"Hey, I can kick your ass anytime."

They fell silent for a moment and Dean hoped against hope that Sam would fall asleep.

"Dean, if …" Sam's voice broke but Dean knew exactly what _if_ they were talking about here. There was only one _if_. "You get in the car and you drive to Bobby. You go to Bobby, Dean. Please, Dean. Do that for me. Please."

Another feeling of déjà vu, they had this conversation before in that small clinic when they'd thought Sam was infected with the demonic virus.

"I'm not leaving you, Sammy." Sam was Dean's reason to keep going, his only reason.

For a moment Sam looked like he wanted to argue but then he nodded and set his jaw in grim determination.

"Guess I'll have to not be infected, then."

That actually made Dean laugh. "You can't just decide if you're infected or not."

"Watch me."

Dean watched him. He watched him while the moon rose. Nothing happened but that didn't mean they were in the clear.

Dean turned off the lights in the room to help Sam to find some rest but he let the door open so there was still some light from the main room. For hours they stayed silent, both lost in their own thoughts, but Dean always kept an eye on Sam.

It was after ten when sleep deprivation and maybe the whiskey caught up with Sam and his breathing evened out.

Without making a noise Dean straightened up in his chair and he made sure that the gun was in easy reach. Sam didn't change during the first minutes he was asleep and he was still softly snoring an hour later. For the first time Dean dared to hope. Madison had changed as soon as she'd fallen asleep.

There was still midnight, though. Some lore noted that as the time of change.

The last few minutes to midnight were the longest Dean had ever endured. At some point he was sure his watch was broken. But then, finally, it was midnight and then past midnight and Sam was still Sam.

Dean let out a shaky breath and slumped back in his chair.

"Never do that to me ever again." He whispered low enough to not disturb his sleeping brother. "You hear me? Never again."

Without waking Sam he got him out of the cuffs and eased his arms down. Sam mumbled something and rolled to his side and Dean decided to let him sleep. He'd figure out the good news in the morning by himself.

Still on shaky legs Dean left the room to get himself a drink. If this wasn't a moment to celebrate he didn't know what was. Pouring himself two fingers he fought against the hysterical laughter bubbling in his chest.

"Cheers, Sammy." He raised his glass in the direction of the bedroom.

Dean froze at a noise behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

Dean spun around, half-expecting to find his wolfed-out brother standing right behind him ready to rip Dean's heart out. But there was nobody, no Sam, wolfed-out or otherwise. Which made sense Sam had been sleeping a minute ago and for sure he hadn't sneaked by Dean.

There was the noise again, a rattling at the door, and this time Dean saw the doorknob moving.

Dean backed off slowly to the bedroom where he'd left his gun. One quick glance assured him that Sam was still peacefully asleep in the bed but he'd doubted anyway that Sam would even fit through the small window of the bedroom to get outside in the first place.

"Sam." Dean hissed but Sam didn't stir. "Sam." Louder now and Sam snapped awake. He had a confused look around before his eyes settled on the gun in Dean's hand.

"Dean?" All of a sudden there were tears in Sam's eyes. His gaze lingered on the gun before he teared it away and forced himself to look up to meet his brother's eye. "I'm sorry."

It took Dean a second to realize that the good news hadn't reached Sam yet.

"You're not a werewolf." Dean was already half-way back to the main room where whoever was outside had given up on the doorknob and was now softly knocking at the door. "There's somebody outside."

"I'm not?" Sam huffed out a laugh of relief but then the second part of Dean's statement caught up with him. "Who?"

That was a good question. It was past midnight and they were in the middle of nowhere. The only persons who knew where they were, were the guy who'd rented them the cabin and Bobby, neither of them had business up here at this time of the night.

Adjusting his grip on the gun Dean made his way back to the door with Sam now a solid presence right behind his right shoulder, barefoot, in his sleepwear and without a weapon whatsoever, so Dean made sure to stay between his brother and the door. Not for the first time he wished they'd brought more weapons in.

"Who's there?" Sam's shout made Dean jump but he kept the gun trained at the door. The knocking stopped and there was a croaky sound that sounded more like an animal than anything else. Not a very frightening animal, though.

Years of practice got them in position without a second thought, Sam behind the door, ready to yank it open, and Dean with his gun ready to shoot at whatever evil may wait outside.

What Dean didn't expect to see when the door flew open was a woman hanging on to the door frame for dear life. A naked woman, to be exact. That is, if he didn't count the mud coating her legs up to the knees with splashes all over smooth dark skin up to her head. There was even mud in her hair and probably on her face, too, but with her head hanging like it was too heavy to lift up, it was hard to tell.

"Did she walk up here?" Was Sam's input on the bizarre scenario.

Dean didn't answer but didn't let his aim falter either. Women didn't just appear in the middle of the night somewhere at an isolated hunting cabin. And they would put on some clothes before going on a hiking trip in this weather. At least outside of porn.

The woman slowly lifted her head and her eyes found Dean's.

"What are you?" Dean snarled, forgetting for a moment the naked with really nice curves part, only focused on the fact that silver wasn't a natural eye-color.

Her face lit up with a warm smile and she totally dismissed his tone and the gun pointing at her.

"D..." She grimaced, trying to get a word out but it was more of an inarticulate sound than anything else. With some imagination she could have tried to say _Dean_, though.

Completely ignoring the gun she let go of the door frame and made a wobbly step towards Dean.

Dean's reflexes were the only thing saving her from face-planting right in front of him. Hands full with his gun and the naked woman he threw a glance at his brother but Sam looked as lost as Dean felt.

The woman sneaked her arms around Dean's waist, leaning heavily on him, and rested her head on his chest with a happy sigh.

"What the hell?" Dean had to hug her back to prevent her from just sliding down to the floor like a rag doll. Which was more than awkward because, hello, naked woman, but she didn't seem to have full control over her legs.

Sam closed the door and a second later he draped a blanket over the woman's shoulders. She frowned at him as if she wasn't sure what the blanket was for but then she gave Sam a warm smile.

"Okay, don't get me wrong here." Dean had to adjust his grip on her and he really tried to not think about her breasts pressing against him or the soft curve of her ass just inches from his hands. "But for a woman your size you're quite heavy."

She wasn't exactly petite but round in the right places, _sleek lines_ was for some reason the term in Dean's mind, without an ounce of too much fat. However, Dean swore she outweighed Sam with ease.

"C'mon, Bambi. Use your legs."

She tried to help but in the end Dean had to more or less drag her the few steps over to the fireplace. He let her flop down in the chair and then straightened his back with a groan.

She just sat there and watched him with her strange eyes, the silver stood in stark contrast to her dark face which made her stare even more eery.

"Let's try this again." Dean didn't point the gun back at her, she didn't seem threatening at all, but he kept it in hand, just in case. "What are you?"

"K...k..." She tried to speak but growled in frustration, deep and rumbling, when she couldn't bring the words out. She didn't seem to mind that the blanket was hanging loosely around her shoulders and she did nothing to cover herself up.

"Sam?" At a loss Dean looked over to Sam, seeking for help, but Sam only did this little jaw jerking thing he did when he'd no clue what was going on either.

"Maybe we should test her?" Sam suggested but looked anything but certain. "You know, silver, holy water, the usual?"

At least that sounded like a plan.

"Keep an eye on her." Dean handed Sam the gun. Barefoot as he was Sam better stayed inside or he would end up like their mysterious visitor with mud boots and goosebumps. They probably should light the fireplace, she must be freezing. Dean didn't allow himself to think about why he suddenly cared if a supernatural thing was comfy or not.

When Dean grabbed the keys the woman tried to talk again and the hoarse croaking came closer to words this time. Not close enough to understand what she was trying to say, though. If she was trying to say anything at all, which Dean wasn't so sure about.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I don't understand you." Dean smiled at her in a what he hoped was a reassuring way. They had to make sure she wasn't a monster of some kind but he didn't get any evil vibes from her and he didn't want to scare her more than necessary. Maybe she really was just a woman lost in the woods. Without her clothes and not able to walk or talk. Yeah, right.

She returned his smile, showing perfect white teeth and the beginning of laugh lines around her strange silver eyes.

_Just a normal woman_, Dean thought with a bitter hint of humor when he opened the door and stepped out into the rainy night.

He ducked his head against the rain and jogged over to where he'd parked the Impala. Which wasn't there.

Confused Dean looked around, maybe he'd parked a little more at the side?

The place in front of the cabin wasn't that big, the trees formed a dark wall just a few yards away, and even in the middle of the night and in this rain it should be easy to find a car as big as the Impala. Hell, everything bigger than a Matchbox car should be easy to find.

"What the hell?" In disbelief Dean turned the whole 360 but the muddy place in front of the cabin stayed Impala free. Close to hyperventilating Dean ran around the cabin, he had no idea why or how she could have gotten to the back but he checked anyway. Sure enough he found what he'd feared. No Impala.

"What have you done to my car?" Furious Dean stormed back in the cabin. He snagged the gun out of Sam's hand and pointed it directly at the woman's head.

"What's with the car?" Sam asked but Dean didn't bother with an explanation.

"Where is my car?" He was right in the woman's face who didn't seem to be impressed. She locked eyes with him and tried to say something but the only recognizable word was "I", the rest was inarticulate nonsense.

Dean flicked the safety off.

The woman rolled her eyes at him and then she moved. She swatted the gun out of her face with more force than either of them had expected. Her uncoordinated blow hit Dean's forearm like a truck and the gun cluttered to the floor. Carried by the force of her own movement the woman fell out of the chair and landed in a tangled heap of limbs and blanket on the floor.

"Fuuuug." She groaned into the floorboards.

"Did she just say fuck?" Holding his hand Dean stood over her while Sam scooped up the gun and joined them. He didn't aim at the woman who had trouble to fight her way out of the blanket.

She finally managed to prop herself up on her left elbow, leaving most of the blanket behind and Dean did his best to not stare at her bare chest.

"What the …?" Sam didn't seem to have that decency because he crouched next to her to have a better look. "Dean, look."

Gently but firmly Sam grabbed her right shoulder and moved it backwards to gain them an even better view.

"Sam." Dean hissed. Staring down on naked women on the floor like some creep wasn't Dean's idea of a gentleman but then he noticed the scars under her right collarbone. Not just scars, letters carved into her flesh.

_S.W._ and _D.W._

Crude lines like a kid had drawn them. Two kids, to be exact, with knives on the wooden floor of the Impala.

Dean met Sam's eyes and saw the same realization dawning on his brother's face.

"Baby?" Dean almost didn't dare to ask. This was too weird even for their standards.

The woman gave him a small nod and said something that came close to "Finally, dumbass."

Dean took in the sight in front of him. She still lay on the floor with the blanket barely covering anything. In the poor light her dark skin almost looked black and the way she was holding herself up on one elbow emphasized the curves of her body, clearly feminine but in a more solid way. Her silver, no chrome, eyes were fixed on him and she patiently waited for him to come to terms.

Sam drew the blanket over her shoulder to cover her up again and helped her up to get back in the chair. He groaned under her weight Dean noticed not without satisfaction.

When she was settled once again in the chair Sam stepped back and unsure what to do next the brothers just stood there for a moment.

"Dude." Dean rubbed the back of his head with a wary look over to the woman. "Baby is a babe."


	4. Chapter 4

"How?" Dean turned to his brother for an explanation after the initial shock was over. And he still had trouble wrapping his mind around the fact that this woman was his car. "How can a car turn into a person?"

"I don't know." Sam answered but he had this expression on his face that told Dean his brother had sunk his teeth into the problem. He just had to make sure Sam ate and slept enough until he'd figured this one out. If it even took that long, sometimes his brother actually did live up to his reputation of being the smart one.

Dean looked over to the woman, Baby, who was still naked, except for the blanket which was hanging loosely around her and he doubted she'd gasped the concept of it, still coated in mud and by now visibly shivering.

"Okay, first things first." Dean nodded to himself and crouched in front of her. When she did nothing to cover herself up, he drew the blanket closer around her.

"I get you have trouble talking but you understand me just fine, don't you?" He ducked his head to look her in the eye which she rolled at him. She even managed to translate her annoyance into the hissing sound that came close to a "yes".

"How does a hot shower sound?" He asked, mentally already rooting through his clothes to find something she could wear afterwards. Not that they had anything close to fitting her, though.

"Shower is for washing?" She asked with a frown. She was far from talking clearly but Dean was getting the hang of it and had no problems filling in the sounds she couldn't quite manage. Yet. At this rate she would be talking like nobody's business in a couple of hours.

"Yeah, you know. Shower." Dean wasn't sure what the problem was. Then it dawned to him that she'd never been inside. She may have heard them talking about things like showers and such but she'd never seen or needed one before. Usually a bucket of water and a hose had worked just fine. But now?

A low chuckle behind him drew Dean out of those unpleasant thoughts.

"She's your car." Sam spoke up and Dean didn't have to turn around and look at his brother to know the defensive posture he was currently showing. "You explain that one to her."

In this case _explaining_ came close to _showing_, Dean let out a groan.

"C'mon, bathroom it is."

Maybe his Bambi reference hadn't been that far off because like a fawn Baby learned to control her legs pretty quickly. The way to the bathroom wasn't as bad as Dean had feared and by the time he parked her on the closed toilet lid Dean was confident that she was steady enough on her feet to manage a shower on her own.

Dean got the water running and showed her the soap and a washcloth. The concept wasn't that different from washing her the old-fashioned way and Dean felt safe to leave her alone with this.

"You've hands now, you can wash yourself." He reminded her. "I'll be just outside, holler when you need something."

She frowned at the washcloth in her hand and then at the shower stall and for a second Dean feared he'd have to shower her after all but then she nodded and Dean left her alone.

In the main room Sam had been busy as well and had lit the fireplace.

"Will she be okay?" Sam asked with a doubtful look at the bathroom door and Dean had to admit that he was straining his ears, too. But he only heard the shower running.

"She's smart, she'll figure it out." Dean nodded to himself and hoped he was right.

"So I'm not a werewolf." Sam flopped down in the same chair he'd been using a lifetime ago when they'd tried to chase away the fear with whiskey and poker.

"No, you're not." Dean mirrored his position in the other chair. There was his forgotten drink from his impromptu celebration earlier still on the table and Dean finished it in one quick movement. He eyed the whiskey bottle he'd left on the table as well, pondering if he should go for a another one. For sure he felt like he could use a drink but then he just put the glass back on the table.

Sam didn't say anything for a moment, his gaze lost in the flames slowly warming the cabin.

"This can't be coincidence." Sam finally spoke. His naked toes dug into the fluffy rug, giving away his restlessness, while the rest of his body stayed uncommonly calm.

"Remember that werewolf hunt a month ago?" Sam turned his head so he could look Dean in the eye.

"Barely." Dean snorted. That damn hunt was the reason they were here. An hour ago Dean had thought he'd have to shoot his own brother because of that hunt. And he'd been fully prepared to shoot his own brains out afterwards. So yeah, he remembered _that_ werewolf hunt.

"Remember how I hit Dave in the face with the lid of the trunk?"

Now Dean snickered. "I was the one who had to work the dents out he left with his … holy shit."

"Yep."

"But she's a car." Dean pointed out. "How can a werewolf turn a frigging car?"

"No idea." Sam shook his head. "Never heard of something like this."

"Why didn't she turn werewolf?" Was the first question in Dean's mind. Among a million others. How long would she stay like this? Was she craving human hearts? Would she kill somebody? Dean threw a glance at the still closed bathroom door. This wasn't a conversation he wanted her to overhear. "What does this mean for her?"

"I don't know." Sam reached for the glass and poured himself a generous drink. Dean arched an eyebrow at him, this was more than Sam drank on a whole evening at a bar, but Sam only took one big gulp, grimaced at the burn and handed the rest of the drink over to Dean.

"We should call Bobby in the morning." Sam suggested. "Maybe he knows something."

"Yeah, maybe." Somehow he doubted it. Dean finished the glass, his eyes now on the dancing flames in the fireplace while he listened to the running water in the bathroom. So far there hadn't been a call from Baby and he hadn't heard any signs of distress like slipping or water splashing. But he would feel better as soon as she was back where he could keep an eye on her.

"I should get her something to wear." Dean announced when his brother didn't come up with an explanation. In this phase it was best to let Sam just be. He'd think over everything, pick it apart and poke at it until he'd found his answer. Experience had taught Dean that this was the best time to hit a bar or something and to come back when Sam had solved the problem. Dean's mind worked best when his hands were busy but Sam was a broody thinker. Best thing Dean could do now was to retreat to the bedroom where he'd dumped his duffel bag.

Dean found sweatpants which were too big for Baby but if she tied the drawstring tight enough they should hold and a t-shirt she could were as a tent, however, that was all they had. If this was a long-term deal they'd need to get her some real clothes. Underwear and shoes would be the first things because Dean had nothing in that department that came even close to fitting her. And he doubted she wanted to wear his underwear.

When he returned to the bathroom the shower was still running.

"You alright in there?" Dean asked through the closed door.

She answered something but over the sound of the water and with her still impaired speech Dean didn't understand what she was saying.

"I got you something to wear." He opened the door and poked his head in.

Baby sat on the toilet lid, now wrapped in a towel instead of the blanket, and gave a good impression of a drowned kitten. She hadn't dried herself off and the towel didn't help much the way she wore it loosely over her shoulders.

"Some day I have to explain the term _decency_ to you."

"You?" Her voice still cracked but she got the sarcastic tone right.

"Ha, ha. You think you're funny?" He shook his head and shut off the water before he turned to her to get her dry and dressed. When he knelt down in front of her and once again closed the fabric to cover her up, another thought occurred to him. How aware had she been all those years? Did she know about the things he'd done in the car? Which on itself sounded just wrong.

"Let's start with your hair." Dean announced, grabbing another towel. "Pay attention, this is a one time only deal."

He did the hair and she did the rest but she needed help to find her way into the pants and the t-shirt. It was oddly familiar, Dean had to admit. It reminded him of a toddler Sam who'd tried more than once to fit his thick head through the whole for the arm. Which hadn't changed that much since then, Sam still tried to have his way, no matter what.

Baby's coordination got better by the minute but by the time she was finally dressed, she looked exhausted and he urged her to sit down for another minute. Elbows on her knees and head hanging she didn't object.

"What happened to me?" She broke the silence without lifting her head.

Once again Dean crouched in front of her.

"How aware have you been as a car?" Dean asked one of the weirder questions of his life. A question he really didn't want to have an answer to. Over the last few minutes he'd tried to recollect girls, positions and other incident which had happened in and around the car. And on it. Against it. Or this one time when he'd been working under the car and his girlfriend of the week … Dean cleared his throat.

"Everything is kinda fuzzy. Endless roads merge into one." Now she looked up to meet his eyes with a smile on her lips. "But I've always been aware of you."

Dean didn't know if he should feel flattered or embarrassed so he just nodded.

"You probably don't remember but a month ago we were after a werewolf."

To his surprise she nodded. "I felt his teeth. Right here." She placed her hand on the curve of her buttocks.

"He bit you in the ass." Dean chuckled.

"It hurt." She actually pouted. "Nothing before ever hurt."

For that alone Dean wanted to shoot that werewolf again. He hadn't just hurt Baby, he'd _hurt_ her.

"It's okay." Seeing his distress she reached out and cupped his face. "I'm okay. It saved Sammy so it's okay."

"It's my job to protect you. You and Sammy." Dean sighed. "I failed you, I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything but gently stroked his cheek and for some reason Dean thought of his mother. For a second he closed his eyes and just let her comfort him.

"By now Sam is probably pacing a hole in the floor." Dean broke the moment and stood up. "Let's find out if that brain of his has figured out how a werewolf can turn a car, shall we?"

He was ready to help her if she still needed it but she didn't even tried to get up.

"Dean?" All of a sudden she sounded shy.

"Yeah?"

"Do you have to shoot me?"


	5. Chapter 5

Dean froze. Although whispered these had been the clearest words Baby had spoken so far. And she'd just asked him if he had to kill her.

_Do you have to shoot me?_ The words echoed in his mind.

She looked up at him with suddenly misty eyes and it broke his heart.

"I don't know." He answered honestly because he didn't know. She hadn't attacked them, hadn't shown any sign of typical werewolf behavior but would it stay that way?

A single tear rolled down her cheek and she blinked rapidly. With his thumb Dean wiped it way. Her very first tear as a human being, if she actually was human, that is, a dark part of his mind whispered. Her first tear and he'd caused it.

"I don't want to hurt you or Sammy." She caught his hand and pressed it against her cheek. "If you have to, you do it."

Dean may not know this woman very well but he knew his car, the one constant in his life. Killing her? That ranked among killing Sam. He wasn't sure if he could do that.

She must have read something in his expression because her gaze hardened.

"You were prepared to shoot Sammy." She reminded him. "You said I shouldn't worry, Bobby would take care of me."

"You heard that?" Dean shifted uncomfortably.

"Don't let me hurt you."

"You don't seem much like a werewolf to me." He said with a forced smile. "As long as you don't try to rip my heart out I won't shoot you. Deal?" He'd meant it as a joke but she held his gaze with her strange eyes and gave him a sincere nod.

"Deal."

This time she let him help her too her feet and she staggered towards the door with him hovering near by but under her own steam.

Like Dean had predicted Sam was pacing the room. His laptop stood on the kitchen counter but Dean doubted it would get a connection so it was pretty useless. But of course Sam had tried. He hadn't put socks on in the meantime but he'd tried to hook up his laptop. Dean rolled his eyes and made a mental note to get his brother some socks.

"Hey." Sam stopped his latest round in front of Baby and ducked his head to have a look at her. "How are you?"

"I'm running on fumes." She admitted and didn't object when Dean guided her over to the fireplace. With a sigh and no grace she dropped into the chair. "You need to gas me up soon. This body has a crappy mileage."

For a second Dean tried to hold back the laughter. Then he made the mistake and looked at Sam and then they both doubled over. Baby frowned at them and that didn't make it better. Like to drunks Sam and Dean held on to each other, keeping each other upright. On shaky legs and gasping for air, Dean just rolled with the hysterical laughter bubbling out of his chest.

"With a body like this." Dean wiped away the laughing tears. "Gas is going out not in."

Crying with a new wave of laughter Sam's knees buckled and he went down in a shaking heap of limbs. Dean hadn't seen him this carefree in ages but after the tension of the last month, make that years, it felt good to see his brother like this again. Dean could only hope it would last for a while, just a little breather, they both needed it.

Baby waited patiently but with a mild confused expression for them to catch their breath and that look alone drove them into two more laughing fits before they finally calmed down.

Dean guessed Baby was too used to them, the big belching contest of '97 came to mind, to say something about it. Or it was just stoic car behavior.

It was past two in the morning and Dean stood in the little kitchen, preparing sandwiches for the three of them. He couldn't remember when he'd eaten the last time, same for Sam, and his stomach grumbled in anticipation. They were all running on fumes so to speak, which still made him smile, and Dean longed for a good night's sleep as well. He and Sam both could use a little R&R but with the new turn of events that would have to wait for a little while longer. Didn't it always?

While he put together the sandwiches Dean had an eye on his brother and his car, having a little chat over at the fireplace.

_Our lives are so weird._ Dean shook his head and arranged the sandwiches on a plate. Just basic sandwiches which were more than good enough for Sam and himself but now they looked kinda simple to him. _Her first meal should be something better than this._

"Dean, look at this." Sam held Baby's hand in his, giving a strange impression of a fortune-teller.

"What?" Dean set the plate down, simple or not, they needed to eat. Sam showed him Baby's hand with the palm up and for a second Dean had no idea what Sam was trying to show him. But then he saw it.

"Wow, that's going to drive the CSI guys nuts." Curious he inspected the lines closer. "But it makes sense. You have chrome colored eyes so why not tire mark fingerprints?"

"Is this bad?" Baby asked and drew her hand back, making a fist as if she needed to hide her not normal fingerprints. Her earlier question was back on Dean's mind.

"Na." He made and dragged another chair over. "It's part of your charm. Let's eat."

He and Sam hungrily reached for the sandwiches but Baby just held hers and sniffed at it.

"It's called a sandwich." Dean explained with his mouth full. "Solid gas for humans."

"I know what a sandwich is." She tried a little bite. "There is still a half eaten one under my backseat, only waiting to grow legs to take over the world." She said it with a grumpy seriousness that made Sam and Dean both choke on their own food.

"Dammit, Baby." Dean cursed when he'd finally forced the bite down his throat without suffocating. "Don't do that."

She just gave him a smug grin and took a huge bite. When she made a pleased sound Dean's own sandwich suddenly tasted way better and he ate with new appetite.

"Speaking of stuff …" Sam cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his head. "The stuff inside you, you know, in the trunk, the weapons and such … where is it? It's not on the ground outside, is it?"

The last part was directed at Dean who shook his head. There had been nothing outside, only rain and mud.

Baby thought about that for a moment. "I don't know. It's still in the trunk, I think?"

Sam nodded as if this made sense. "I guess it will be there if you turn back. I mean when … you know …"

Baby didn't say anything, eyes on the food in her hands.

"So basically we don't have an actual car right now, no weapons and we're stuck out here." Dean leaned back in his chair. "And we still have no idea what happened to you or how long it's going to last. Awesome."

"I'm sorry." Baby said meekly and laid her half-eaten sandwich back on the plate.

Realizing what he'd just said, Dean reached for her and opened his mouth to say something but Sam beat him to that.

"Don't be." Sam gave her his best puppy dog eyes. "Nothing of this is your fault. I was the one who got you bitten in the first place. You saved my life."

"And I promise I'll clean you out, vacuum you and furbish you until you look like you just rolled down the line." Dean paused and shook his head. "Well, that was the weirdest thing I've ever said to a woman."

"Thank you." Baby gave both of them a warm smile. They finished the sandwiches in comfortable silence and in the end Dean could barely keep his eyes open. A glance at his brother told him that Sam was close to falling asleep in his chair as well and even Baby looked like an overgrown toddler past her bedtime.

"Well." Dean clapped his hands, startling everybody. "How about we turn in?"

"Sounds good." Sam stretched and yawned. "I get our stuff."

"Huh?" Baby raised an eyebrow at Sam who disappeared in the bedroom just to come back a second later with their bags.

"Sam and I are going to take the bunk beds." Dean explained. "Lucky you gets the big bed all for yourself."

The confused expression stayed on her face.

"This is the first time I have to explain a bed to somebody." Dean stood up and gestured for her to follow him. "I show you."

At least she was familiar with the human need of sleep. Dean couldn't count the nights they'd spent sleeping in the car so she had to know about that.

"That's why Sam's always complaining about my backseat being too small." She stretched out on the bed with a happy sigh.

"Your backseat's fine." Dean assured her. "Sammy's just an overgrown giant"

"Hey, I heard that." Came it from the other room, making both of them chuckle.

"Think you can sleep?" Dean asked and tucked her in. She nodded, her eyes already dropping. "If you need anything, I'm right around the corner."

Dean switched off the light but couldn't help it and stood in the doorway for a moment, just watching her. A fond smile sneaked on his face and he silently vowed to her to make this right again.

"Stop staring." She mumbled without opening her eyes. "It's creepy."

Dean hurried to close the door.

When he came out of the bathroom Dean found Sam already in bed. In the top bed.

"Hey, that's my bed, bitch." Dean growled in a low voice to not disturb Baby.

"And why should it be?" Sam had the nerve to ask, looking down on him.

"I'm older." Dean stated the obvious. "I get the top bed."

"Sure you can climb up here, old man?" Sam asked and rolled to his back. For a second Dean considered dragging him out of bed by his foot but he didn't want to wake Baby. And he was too tired for this shit.

"This old man can kick your ass at any time." Dean muttered but settled in the other bed.

There was a moment of silence.

"She okay?" Sam asked with real concern in his voice. He didn't have a tight connection to the Impala, not as tight as Dean's anyway, but she was his home as well. The only real home they ever had.

"She's fine." Dean hurried to say and hoped he wasn't lying. "We call Bobby in the morning maybe he knows something."

Sam was silent for a moment and Dean swore he could hear the wheels turning in his head.

"What if she turns back as soon as she falls asleep?" He finally asked.

That was a valid question, Dean guessed. So far Madison and that Dave werewolf as well had turned when they'd fallen asleep.

"Then we'll have to break down the back wall to get her out."


	6. Chapter 6

When Dean woke up late the next morning he was still the first one up. After one quick check on his brother, still not wolfed out, and his car, still human so they wouldn't have to break down any walls after all, Dean went for the kitchen in search for breakfast.

He had a suspicious look at the coffeemaker, that thing looked ancient, but coffee was coffee and he started a pot.

They hadn't bought much food, they'd never planned on staying at the cabin for long in the first place, but Dean found a box of Lucky Charms.

_That's why I bought the milk,_ Dean remembered and fixed himself a bowl. The last day had been a surreal blur and if he thought about the woman currently sleeping in the main bedroom, it hadn't gotten better. He didn't have to shoot anybody so it kinda had gotten better but still.

Dean had no idea what to do about his car-turned-human but he probably should give Bobby a call. Let him know they were still alive, some of them more than they should be, though.

Bobby picked up on the first ring.

"Dean." He said into the phone before Dean had even time to say anything. "Sam alright?"

"Sam's fine." Dean let out a sigh. Sam was fine. However, Dean would probably need a few days to convince himself that his little brother was indeed fine.

"I sense a _but_ coming." Of course Bobby had picked up on that. "Don't tell me you did something stupid."

"Turned out, Sammy wasn't bitten." Dean said it out loud and it really felt good to say that. Finally the burden he'd been carrying around for the last month lifted completely and he took a deep breath. "But somebody else was."

"Who? You said you two were alone with the werewolf." Bobby asked clearly confused. "Dean? Did he …?"

"No." Dean hurried to say. "It's not me. It's my car."

"Come again?"

"The Impala got bitten." Dean clarified. "Turned into a woman last night."

"You sure it's her?" Bobby asked and Dean could practically hear his mind rattle off all the possible other things Baby could be. "Did you test her?"

"I wanted to but then I found my car gone and with her all the silver knives and the holy water." Dean put the empty bowl in the sink. "Trust me, it's her."

Bobby couldn't provide a quick answer, not that Dean had expected one, but he promised to make a few calls and to start with the research.

"You're just a few hours away, come over and well fix this together." Bobby offered and Dean was grateful he didn't point out why they'd stayed so close in the first place.

"Sounds good." Dean agreed. "But don't expect us too soon. We're stuck in the woods with no car and Baby doesn't even have shoes."

"Get here as fast as you can. And call me if anything changes." If she turns back into a car, if she becomes violent, if you have to kill her, Dean got the idea.

"First I've to get the sleeping beauties out of bed." Dean muttered and ended the call.

"Do I smell coffee?" A still half-asleep Sam staggered into the kitchen.

"Called Bobby." Dean fixed his brother a cup of coffee, with extra sugar, and a bowl of Lucky Charms.

"What did he say?"

"He's no idea either but he's looking." Dean sat down across from his brother with his own cup. "Wants us to come over."

"Probably for the best." Sam nodded. "If this lasts that long, that is. She's still a woman, right?"

"Last time I checked she was. I was about to wake her up anyway."

Baby was still fast asleep and didn't even stir when Dean sat down on the edge of the bed. Curled up under the covers only a patch of messy hair stuck out and carefully Dean pried the blanket from her face.

"Morning, sunshine." He said and she wrinkled her nose at that.

Then her eyes snapped open. "Dean?"

She shot up into a sitting position and stared at her hands for a moment before she touched her own face.

"Little late for a freak-out." Dean commented but waited patiently until she was finished with taking stock of her new features. "You okay?"

"I thought it was a dream." She admitted with a sheepish smile. Her voice was a little raspy from sleeping but otherwise she didn't seem to have a problem with forming words anymore.

"Do cars dream?" Dean raised an eyebrow at her.

"Most of the time it feels like a dream." She answered but didn't elaborate.

"Anyway, I've coffee ready." Dean stood up. "Believe me, you'll love coffee. It's like high-octane for humans."

Turned out, Baby liked coffee. And she liked it black and bitter just like Dean did and not the fancy over-sweet crap Sam called coffee.

"What are we going to do now?" Baby asked, turning from Dean to Sam and back again.

"Bobby's waiting for us." Sam answered. "He has the right resources to figure out what happened to you and how to turn you back."

At that Dean narrowed his eyes. "Do you want to be a car again?"

They may not have a choice because this could reverse itself over time but if they had to actively turn her back, they should make sure that was what she wanted.

"I am a car." She frowned at him as if that should be quite obvious.

For a second Sam stared at Dean as well but then he nodded in understanding.

"You don't have to decide anything just now." Sam said to Baby. "We still have to get to Bobby first and who knows when we'll find a solution."

He'd meant it in a reassuring way, Dean had no doubt about that, but now Baby looked more distressed than ever. Close to panic she turned to Dean.

"You can change me back, right?" She almost begged. "Dean? You can turn me back into a car, right?"

Surprised by this sudden outburst Dean took her hand and gave it a little squeeze.

"We're still not sure what exactly happened." He admitted. "So we don't know how to reverse it."

"But Bobby is already working on it." Sam jumped in, taking her other hand. "And if this works similar to the werewolf thing, chances are good you turn back on your own."

_If this works similar to the werewolf thing, chances are good this is going to repeat itself next month_, Dean thought but didn't say it out loud. _And the month after that._

"Okay." She sniffed and her eyes were misty but she straightened up and tried a smile. "Then let's get to Bobby."

"About that." Dean shifted in his chair. "Have you looked outside? If you were still a car you'd get stuck for sure."

It had stopped raining over night but the path was still a mud trail he wouldn't dare to drive the Impala on. It had been bad when they'd come here and Baby had barely made it without getting stuck but now it was even worse.

"I have too legs now." She stretched them out and wiggled her toes to make her point. "You're walking in the woods all the time without getting stuck."

"With boots on." Dean stretched his leg out to show her his booted foot. "If you walk down there you'll cut your feet but you won't feel it because up to the knees you'll be numb from the cold."

"You're the expert on this human thing." She didn't seem convinced. "What do you suggest?"

Dean had been waiting for this question.

"Piggyback ride." He answered with a wide grin. Both, Sam and Baby, stared at him in disbelief. "What? It's the best way. We can take turns."

"You're probably right." Sam took his side after a pondering look at Baby. She weighted more than she looked, they'd already found that out, so carrying her out of the woods wouldn't be as easy as it seemed. And they still had their bags to carry as well.

"I have two legs." Baby emphasized again. "I can walk. I want to walk. You are not going to tow me out of here like that. No way. I'm a car. That's ... that's just not natural."

Dean bit back a chuckle. His car-turned-human was complaining about something not being natural.

"Baby." Sam ducked his head to meet her eyes and gave her _that_ look. "How many miles have you carried us? Now it's our turn."

"It's my job."

"And my job is to take care of you." Dean added. "We get out of the woods and first thing is to get you some real clothes and a pair of shoes. Sounds good?"

Baby chewed her bottom lip for a moment before she nodded.

Decision made they hurried to get their stuff together. They hadn't really unpacked in the first place so that task was done in under a minute and then they were ready to go. It was nearly noon by then but the air still held quite a chill and the sun didn't have a chance to break through the thick gray clouding the sky.

"Here, take my jacket." Dean draped his leather jacket over Baby's shoulders. She was already wearing four layers of shirts and three pairs of socks but that wouldn't hold off the wind for long.

"Don't worry, I'll be warm enough with walking." He cut off her protest before she could even form her a word.

Dean took their two duffel bags by the handle and Sam bent down in the knees to let Baby hop on his back. After an unsure gaze in Dean's direction she carefully climbed his brother like a tree while Sam did his best to stifle a groan. For a second his knees buckled but then he found his balance and straightened up.

They walked in silence and after five minutes Dean was covered in sweat. Walking through ankle-deep mud wasn't easy and they made their way slower than he'd expected.

"This is going to take hours." He muttered under his breath and tried to ignore the cold wetness seeping into his boots.

"Stop whining." Sam countered and adjusted his hold on Baby. She had slung her arms around his neck with her hands resting on his chest and her legs wrapped around his middle. Sam's big paws on her thighs looked like he could break them like a dry stick but Dean doubted that would be that easy. She could have steel bones for all they knew.

_Wolverine's little sister_, Dean thought with a smile.

"I've to say, this isn't as bad as I thought." She grinned down at him and gave Sam a playful slap on the chest. "C'mon, faster."

"I swear, you call me horsy and you walk." Sam threatened but picked up speed.

What had been a slow half-an-hour drive up to the cabin turned out to be a nearly four-hour walk back to civilization. If you could call this forgotten spot on the map civilization, that is.

By the time they reached the main street with its few stores, a gas station and two bars, it was dark. No surprise this late in the year and Dean rather welcomed it. They gave quite a picture and this way they'd draw less attention. Or so he hoped.

As soon as they had asphalt under their feet Baby had insisted to walk on her own and at first sight nobody would notice the lack of shoes or the way to big clothes.

"Okay, you two go shopping." Dean got his wallet out and handed his brother the last of his money. They hadn't really bothered with keeping much cash, there had been more pressing things over the last month, and their emergency stash was safely hidden in the Impala's trunk and not accessible at the moment.

"What are you doing in the meantime?" Baby ask.

"I'm going to get us some wheels."

"You going to … what?"


	7. Chapter 7

"You going to … what?" Baby asked in clear disbelief. Her outrage would have been rather cute if it hadn't been for the murder in her chrome eyes.

"We can't walk to Bobby's." Dean backed off with his hands raised in a deflecting manner. "And you're not in the right shape to bring us there. Don't worry, I won't ditch you for a younger one."

"You better not." She muttered but couldn't really say something against it. With one last warning glance in his direction she followed Sam who didn't even try to hide his amusement.

"My car is getting jealous of another car I don't even have." Dean threw up his hands and turned on his heel to go and find said car. In his mind he was already pondering his options, as if a small town like this would offer many options.

"Would love to see her face if I come back with a Ferrari." He chuckled softly and had an eye out for an opportunity. An old Volvo was parked a bit down the street but when he came closer he noticed the dirt, which was probably the only thing keeping it together, and the rust that was eating it away. The combined weight of two grown men and one human looking car would crash this thing for sure so Dean passed it without slowing down.

His boots squished with every step and he couldn't really feel his toes anymore and he longed for a hot shower. And dry clothes, his jeans were wet and coated with mud up to his knees and Sammy's hadn't looked better. Maybe they should stay the night at a motel somewhere and drive to Bobby in the morning. One day wouldn't matter that much or so Dean hoped.

Decision made his cold feet didn't bother him that much anymore and his steps got a little more of that swagger the ladies loved.

One of the two bars of the town came in sight and just like Dean had hoped, the parking lot wasn't as deserted as the rest of the street. Not that full, it was fairly early in the evening after all, but there was a Jeep and two trucks and a couple of junkers, nothing fancy or out of this millennium and that was exactly what he needed.

Hanging back a little Dean observed the lot from afar, making sure nobody would notice him. There was a group of young people standing at the corner of the building, not old enough to go inside but old enough to pretend they were. Dean wasn't in a hurry, it would take some time for Sam and Baby to finish their task, so he waited patiently for his chance. He had his eyes on an old Dodge Charger.

When the group of young people finally left, Dean was across the street, inside the car and out of sight in less than a minute. In a small town like this it was most likely that everybody knew who this car belonged to so Dean left the town on the quickest way.

He parked out of sight and while he waited for Sam to call to pick him and Baby up, Dean used the time to clear out his new vehicle. Whoever it belonged to loved fast food and didn't care about taking out the trash. Dean couldn't do much about the smell, though, old grease and stale cigarette smoke.

That task done Dean sat in the car and regretted that Sam had taken their bags and he couldn't change into dry socks and pants. By now Dean was shivering from the cold creeping up from his numb feet but he didn't want to burn too much gas, they were tight enough on money as it was, so he sat in the cold car and waited. What took them so long anyway?

"Finally." He sighed in relief when his phone rang.

Dean didn't know what he'd expected, he doubted there had been much to choose from in the first place, but the sight of Baby standing next to Sam took him by surprise. Okay, he hadn't pegged her for the pink skirt kind of woman but biker girl hadn't been on his list either. Thinking about it, it should have been.

"Looking good." Dean stood in the open door of his substitute car and had an over the roof look at his real car. She wore biker boots, black jeans and a leather jacket over a tank top and she wore it with the natural badassness of a muscle car.

"What is this?" Baby didn't spare a glance in his direction, she had only eyes for the car.

"It's a car." Dean stated the obvious. "And we should get moving before somebody recognizes it."

"You traded me in for this?"

"It was the first I found." Dean defended himself. At least Sam did something productive and stored their bags in the trunk. Baby on the other hand just stood there on the sidewalk with an expression somewhere between disgust and outrage. "It's big enough for all of us and it's not a rolling ball of plastic, it'll do until I get you back." It sounded lame in his own ears and he threw a glance at Sam, searching for help.

"You want shotgun?" Sam jumped in and held the door open for Baby who reluctantly settled down in the passenger seat.

"This is so wrong." She shifted in search for a comfortable position.

"Don't worry, we'll have you back in no time." Dean started the engine.

"I'm sitting inside a car." Baby emphasized. "I am a car and I'm sitting in another car."

Okay that was kinda weird, however, on his list of weird things happened in his life this didn't even make it top five.

"You'll get used to it."

"It smells."

From the backseat Dean heard a chuckle but he pretended to not hear it. Just like he pretended to not notice Baby wrinkling her nose at the smell.

Dean only drove to the next town and stopped at the first motel he saw. Until then Baby had pointed out a barely noticeable clunking noise from the engine, that the car had a slight pull to the right, the passenger side window was drafty and her seat was uncomfortable. Oh, and don't forget the crappy speakers.

"It's a fucking car." Dean finally snapped. "I'm not going to marry this thing."

Dean glared at Baby who glared right back and in the backseat Sam cracked up laughing.

"Not helping." Dean said to his brother without breaking eye contact with Baby. He could have tried to have a staring contest with an actual car for that matter and in the end it was him who looked away first.

"Why did we stop anyway?" Sam sobered and had finally noticed that they'd stopped.

"I don't know about you but I'm wet and cold." Dean got out of the car. "I need a shower and we could hit a bar afterwards. Have something to eat and who knows, maybe I can raise a little cash. We can drive to Bobby in the morning."

"I don't know, Dean." Sam had opened the door but was still mostly inside the car. "You think this is a good idea?"

Dean had wanted to show Baby some of the perks of being a human but with her nagging all the time he wasn't so sure anymore. But he wasn't going to sit in the car for another three hours in his wet boots either.

"Don't tell me you're not freezing your feet off." Dean shut the door before Sam could answer and headed for the office. He paid for two rooms, maxing out his last credit card. Except for the meager left over money from his shopping trip Sam had in his pocket, they were broke. It was enough for a meal and a drink or two and to start a little pool game, which was more than enough to work with.

Dean called first shower and under the hot jets of water, for once the water was actually hot, the cold finally left his body. Freshly showered and dressed in dry clothes he emerged the bathroom.

"All yours." Dean smirked at his brother.

"You want to bring her to a bar." Sam didn't get up from the edge of the bed he was sitting on. He had lost his shoes and socks in the meantime, though.

"We could use something to eat and we need some cash." The boots were his only shoes, his spare pair was in the trunk and he didn't want to think too closely about where they might be now, so he put his clammy boots back on.

"You could go alone."

"All she's seen since she's human is a cabin, the woods and a nearly deserted town." Dean pointed out. "Is it so wrong that I want to show her some of the good things?" He fully expected Sam to object to his definition of good things but Sam said nothing.

"Take your shower." Dean grabbed his jacket. "I check on her."

She didn't answer to him knocking, she probably didn't know the concept behind this, so he just opened the door and stepped in. She stood in the middle of the room, facing the door, and did nothing.

"What you doing?" Dean asked. She hadn't anything to unpack and this time she hadn't been the one wading through mud so she wasn't in need of a shower but just standing there was kinda creepy. She hadn't even bothered to switch the lights on so the lamps in the parking lot were the only source of light and a poorly one, that is.

"Waiting." She said without moving. Dressed in black she was only a silhouette against the even darker wall but her chrome eyes caught the dim light like the eyes of a cat and for a second Dean wished he hadn't left his gun in the other room. It was irrational, he knew it, but for a moment she was so obviously not human that his survival instincts kicked in. Then he turned the lights on, she blinked against the sudden brightness and the moment was over.

"Humans don't just stand in the dark and wait." He closed the door and had a look around the room. Not much to occupy a person in here, he had to give her that. "I'll show you the wonders of television later."

Dean pointed at the two chairs the room offered. "Let's sit down for a moment, it'll take a while till Sam has his hair ready anyway."

Over the day they'd only eaten a shared bag of M&Ms so it wasn't a surprise when Baby's stomach grumbled.

"Running on fumes again?" Dean asked but when he saw her worried expression he hurried to add: "You saw that Bar n Grill down the street? That's where we're going. We'll have something to eat, a few drinks and lots of fun."

"You always seem to have lots of fun at places like that." She nodded in understanding but Dean doubted she really understood. Until now her place had been outside.

"Believe me, it's more fun on the inside." Dean rubbed his hands in anticipation and hoped the place wasn't a dump. "But we have to set some ground rules first."

"Okay?"

"You stick to Sam or me." Dean set the first rule. "I don't want you to get lost. But if so, you come back here." If this lasted longer they should think of buying her a phone, Dean thought.

Baby nodded.

"You never had alcohol so take it easy, I've carried you enough for one day." On the other hand, drunk Baby could be fun but the last thing he wanted to do was to deal with a hung over Baby. "And watch your drinks, if you've the feeling somebody has tampered with them, don't drink it."

She frowned at that but nodded again.

"Not all monsters are supernatural." Dean explained but left it with that. "One last thing, if somebody does something you don't want, comes to close, touches you without your permission, anything, you tell him to fuck off."

She thought about that for a moment. "What if he doesn't fuck off?"

"Then it's perfectly fine to break his fingers."


	8. Chapter 8

They walked the short distance to the bar and Baby clearly enjoyed this new method of traveling. Dean expected her to start skipping any second now.

Her almost childlike enthusiasm did falter when they entered the bar, though. For a second Dean was equally stunned when he faced the packed bar room. He'd kept track of the moon phases but over that he'd totally lost track of the actual day.

Friday evening, he remembered. For the normal world the working week was over and it looked like the whole town was crowded in this bar to celebrate that fact with a beer.

"So many people." Baby whispered in awe and stayed mostly behind Sam's broad back.

The biggest crowds were a the bar, of course, and at the pool tables in the back, Dean noticed. Tonight the emphasize lay on the bar part of the "Bar n Grill" and they got one of the last tables, in the back near the pool tables much to Dean's delight. Baby didn't hesitate and took the place in the corner, wall in the back, window at her side, and Dean sat down next to her, shielding her from the rest of the room, for which she gave him a grateful smile.

However, Baby seemed to be oblivious to the looks and glances she got or she was just used to it. No matter what form, Baby drew attention.

"Quite busy here." Sam commented while he took his seat across from them but Dean only hmmed, his eyes already on the players at the table.

"Why are so many people here?" Baby leaned into him and not only to get close enough to whisper the words in his ear. She was playing with the zipper of her leather jacket and took in the noisy scenery with wide eyes.

"They're having a good time." Dean gave her knee a reassuring squeeze and he felt some of the tension leaving her body but she stayed glued to his side. For her first time in a bar, hell, the first time around more people than two, it had to be rather scary for her.

When the waitress came over, Dean ordered beer for all of them and cheeseburgers for himself and Baby. Sam threw him a glance and made a point of ordering a salad for himself.

"What?" Faking ignorance Dean raised an eyebrow at his brother as soon as the waitress turned her back on them.

"A cheeseburger? Really, Dean?" Sam made a face as if Dean had ordered rat poison. "That's like gassing her up with gut-rot whiskey." Or that.

Next to him Baby made a strangled noise and she looked at him with rising panic in her eyes.

"I eat it all the time." Dean defended his decision and gave Baby's knee another squeeze. "Besides, do you really want to humiliate her by forcing silverware on her for the first time? Here, in public, where half of the room is already staring at her?"

Sam went silent at that.

"Thought so."

"Dean, I don't want gut-rot whiskey." Baby skipped to the important piece of information. "It would ruin my engine, I wouldn't even start. Dean?" She was close to a panic now.

"Sam's just a drama queen." Dean rolled his eyes at his brother. _See what you've done? _"Like I said, I eat it all the time. Hell, half the time I eat in the car so you know it's not going to kill you on the spot."

"No, it does it over time." Sam just had to add that, hadn't he?

"It's good food." He turned to face Baby. "Have I ever done something to hurt you?"

The second the words were out of his mouth he remembered the one time he had hurt her, the one time he'd used a crowbar on her. She didn't say anything but she remembered as well, it was all over her face. She'd been totaled, already on the ground, and Dean had beaten the shit out of her.

Under the table, outside of Sam's view, Baby placed a hand on Dean's knee and gave it a little squeeze. A silent _I forgive you, it's okay, I understand_.

Dean swallowed against he lump in his throat and didn't know what to say. He was saved by the waitress bringing their food. The slightly panicked look had left Baby's eyes but she looked at the burger on her plate as if it was about to jump her. Following Dean's lead she took it in both hands and had her first bite.

"This is good." She said with surprise and her mouth full and Dean couldn't help but grin his victory at his brother.

"Here, have some of this, too." Sam dumped half of his rabbit food on her plate. Reluctantly she picked up a piece of lettuce, inspecting it closely, before she put it in her mouth.

"This is good, too." She picked up another piece and offered it to Dean. "You should try it, Dean. It tastes good."

Dean buried his face in his burger so he could pretend to not notice his brother's smug expression.

They cleared their plates in silence and after Baby had learned to drink beer without choking on the foam they sat back, enjoying the feeling of a full belly and a cold beer in hand.

"Watch and learn." Dean said to Baby and finished his beer. He'd observed the players on the pool tables for quite a while now and he'd marked his target.

"What's he going to do?" Dean barely heard Baby's question and didn't get Sam's answer at all because his focus was on the man around his own age who had shown all the right signs of _I've more money in my pocket than I need and I'm willing to risk losing it for having a good time_.

"Gentlemen." Dean showed his best smile while he entered the circle of friends surrounding his target. "Have room for another player?"

As expected they welcomed him in their group and his target didn't bat an eye when Dean suggested to spice the game up with a little money.

With his own money low Dean couldn't afford to lose the first game like he'd normally do but he made sure to make it a tight one.

"Beginners luck." He shrugged it off with an appropriate smile and took the money. Dean got his ass handed to him in the next game which was planned but not as easy as it sounded. His opponent, a nice guy named Justin who was out with some friends to blow of some steam, wasn't a great player, he wasn't even a good player. So Dean had to work hard to make himself look like an even worse player and to get the balls in the right position for Justin to pocket one of them once in a while.

Between shots Dean glanced over to the table where Sam and Baby waited for him. Most of the time they had their heads stuck together and he wondered what they were talking about. With Sam at the table as well nobody had tried to make a move on Baby and the way Sam surveyed his surroundings he was aware of the attention Baby drew. Dean wasn't worried that somebody would try something shady but he doubted Baby knew how to handle somebody making advances on her.

"Hey, Dean. Stop eying your girlfriend." Justin comradely slapped his shoulder. "Your turn, man."

"She's not my girlfriend, she's …" Dean started but didn't know how to describe his relationship with Baby. _She's my car,_ didn't seemed to be the right thing to say.

"Whatever." Justin dismissed his statement with a knowing grin.

"She's a friend." Dean stated and leaned over the table to place his shot. He won the next two games with ease but to Justin it had to look like he could have won those two rounds, with a little more luck, a little more skill but victory was just an inch out of his reach. Just like Dean wanted it.

"So close." Justin could still laugh and was eager to win his money back, time for Dean to strike.

They were interrupted by a little tumult at the tables. Glass shattered and a woman shrieked and when Dean looked over he saw his brother with a woman in his arms. Surprised by that sight, Sam was the last person he expected to see with random women in his arms, it took Dean a second to reconstruct what had happened. When Sam awkwardly tried to pat the woman's dress dry with a napkin it was pretty clear what had happened, damn crowded place.

Dean just enjoyed the view for a moment, Sam's face was the color of a tomato by now and Baby only watched with a curious expression on her face, before he shook his head in amusement and turned back to Justin.

"What do you say?" Dean placed his won money on the table. "Double or nothing?"

Like expected Justin doubled the stake without hesitation. If he played it right, Dean could lure him into another round of double or nothing. Smiling at that thought, Dean made his first move.

Focused on the game Dean couldn't really admire what was happening at the table. The woman, a petite brunette with an open smile, had joined his brother and Baby and then there were more drinks on the table.

_Figures, you have to practically throw a woman at Sam before he takes notice. _Dean wasn't sure if he should be proud of Sam and hope his brother had found some company for the night, after the last month he totally deserved some quality time, or if he should worry about the amount of alcohol suddenly involved. Sam was known to falter after two beers and Dean had no idea how Baby could hold her liquor. Probably better than Sam, though.

However, there was money on the table and Dean trusted his brother to not let things get out of control, he was the reasonable one after all.

"This round looks better for you." Justin commented Dean's improved skills but there was no suspicion in his tone.

"With the right motivation." Dean nodded at the wad of bills. "I'm a fast learner."

It was Justin's turn but he'd need a miracle to turn the tables and they all knew it.

"This time you're really going to pay." His friends teased him but Justin didn't seem to care. He took his time to find the right angle and Dean couldn't help but check on Baby.

Sam and his new girlfriend were still engrossed in their conversation but Baby wasn't sitting across from them anymore. Dean quickly swept the bar room with his eyes but in the crowd he couldn't make out Baby. Dean was about to get over there and rip his brother a new one, money be damned, but then Sam looked up and met his eye. Instantly knowing what was on his brother's mind Sam rolled his eyes and nodded towards the bathrooms.

Put at ease, at least for the moment, Dean turned back to the game. Victory was just a few more shots away.

"Good game." Justin admitted his defeat and handed Dean the money. "Gonna give me a chance to win it back?"

Dean licked his lips. He had more than enough money for the moment but he was having fun and you can never get enough money, right?

One glance at where Sam and Baby should be took the decision from him. Sam was where he was supposed to be, busy flirting with the brunette. Baby, however, wasn't back at the table.

"Don't think I want to risk that." Dean forced a smile on his face and hurried to get away from Justin and his friends. "Thanks for the game, though."

With a few long strides Dean was back at their table.

"Sam?" Dean had to raise his voice to get his brother's attention. "Where's Baby?"


	9. Chapter 9

"Where's Baby?" Dean asked and that got Sam's attention. He had a quick look around as if he was sure that Dean had just overlooked her.

"She went for the restroom." Sam said and was already nudging the brunette at his side to let him out.

"That was fifteen minutes ago." Dean turned on his heel and made his way through the crowd without bothering to apologize when he bumped into somebody. Sam was right behind him and for some reason the brunette girl followed them as well.

Dean was about to just stomp into the women's restroom but stopped dead when the door opened and a woman came out, sizing him up and down with a look clearly saying _You're not going to do what it looks like you're going to do, right?_

Dean backed off but was close to barge in anyway when his gaze fell on the woman behind Sam. He'd no idea who she was or why she was sticking around but she was here so she could make herself useful.

"You." He pointed at her, not bothering to ask for her name first. "Go in, see what's keeping her so long."

A small part of his mind clung to the idea that Baby was in there, maybe chatting with another woman or trying to figure out how to work the hand dryer. The bigger part of his mind whispered in a dry voice: _Who are you kidding, she's a Winchester after all._

The brunette threw him a glare but went inside without an argument.

"Who the fuck is she?" Dean hissed, still sweeping the area with his eyes in hope to find Baby's familiar face.

"Her name's Shelly." Sam had his back to him, scanning the other side.

"Oh, that's great." What took her so long? "You were supposed to keep an eye on Baby and not on this Shelly." He spat the name at him.

"It's not what it looks like." Sam had the nerve to say.

"Seems pretty clear to me." With barely concealed anger Dean made the few steps over to the doorway to the kitchen and had a peek inside. He'd no idea why Baby would be in there but he had to check anyway. Of course she wasn't there. It was never that easy.

"There was this guy hitting on her." Sam rushed the story out. "Wouldn't take no for an answer. She was afraid to go outside alone so she spilled her drink on purpose to get away from him and then asked me if she could stay at our table until he lost interest."

Dean stopped in his tracks, Baby forgotten for the moment, and had a good look at his brother. His giant of a brother, build like a brick wall, who was capable of killing with his bare hands. And who still managed to look like an overgrown puppy.

"You know, the sad thing is." Dean shook his head and returned to the restroom's door. "That's more believable than you flirting with a random chick."

"Thanks, Dean." Sam said but his sarcasm was half-hearted at best.

"Dammit, is there a wormhole in there?"

Finally the brunette, Shelly, came out. Alone.

"Where's Baby?" Dean repeated his question while he tried to have a glimpse inside over her shoulder.

"Not here." She answered. "And she's a name, you know?" She glared at him as if he was the bad guy here. Ignoring her, she had outlived her helpfulness anyway, Dean stormed past her to the back door. Baby hadn't come back to the front and this was the only other way.

Dean barged outside and at first he saw nothing. Just the back part of the parking lot, poorly lit and full of cars, a few dumpsters along the wall and a lot of nothingness. But then his eye caught some movement at the corner of the building. Three men hovering over a smaller person and their dirty laughs carried over to Dean, telling him the rest of the story. Now he recognized Baby, back to the wall and cornered by the men, their hands all over her.

"Hey!" With a shout Dean took off running. They didn't seem to notice him or just didn't care and the guy in front of Baby grabbed her chin in a rough hold, forcing her to look up at him.

"C'mon, you owe me a kiss." The words pierced through Dean's mind. "And then I want to see what else this pretty mouth can do, right guys?" He had a triumphant look around with the other two cheering at him.

Dean was only half-way there when he heard Baby speak.

"Fuck off." She said loud and clear, without a hint of fear in her voice.

_She doesn't even realize what's happening_, Dean thought with a curse.

Before Dean could close in on them, though, the dry sound of snapping bones bellowed through the night. There was a moment of eery silence and then the guy in front of Baby screamed.

"That bitch broke my fingers." He wailed, cradling his injured hand. He stumbled backwards, away from Baby, and Dean couldn't help but smile.

_That's my girl._

He was there when the guy to Baby's left raised his fist to punch her. Dean caught his arm, twisted it and bashed the guy's head against the wall. With a satisfying thud the guy went limp.

Out of the corner of his eye Dean noticed the man to Baby's right taking a swing on her as well but Dean was too slow to prevent him from hitting Baby. She must have seen the fist coming, however, she did nothing to protect herself. She just stood there in the middle of the fight and took the blow.

Broken Fingers had recovered as well and rammed his other fist upward into her stomach only a split-second after Baby got hit in the face.

Dean knew the sound of a fist hitting flesh, of bones crushing under the force. But that wasn't the sound he was hearing now. This sounded like somebody had rammed his fist against a steel door. Or a car. The bone crushing noise was the same, though.

Dean re-dubbed Broken Fingers to Broken Hands. The guy was on his knees now, holding both his hands close to this chest, and bawled like a kindergartener who fell of the swing.

The other guy was still standing but he also had a broken hand and after a wild look at Baby and then Dean, the guy made a wise decision and ran.

"Baby?" Gently he took her face in his hands and had a close look at her. "Are you okay?"

She had a small cut high on her cheek bone maybe from a ring but she stood upright and showed no sign of pain from that or the punch to the stomach.

"I think he ruined my paint shop." With her fingertips she probed the abrasion.

"I can fix that." Dean let out a laugh and shook his head. Behind him the guy still screamed his lungs out and Dean was close to punching him just to stop the screaming.

"Mercedes?" Suddenly Shelly was at his side, carefully brushing the hair out of Baby's face. "Oh my god, your face. I'm so sorry, this is my fault. I should have known he'd come after you if he couldn't get me. Don't worry, we get you to the hospital." She babbled and half of it didn't make sense to Dean. "You gonna call 911 or what?"

The last part was directed at Dean who was too perplex to do more than to stare at her.

"Excuse me?" He finally managed.

"She needs a hospital." Shelly explained as if he was stupid. "And we need the police here."

She talked to him over her shoulder and a second later he was forgotten and her attention was on Baby once again.

"Let's go over there, away from them. It's over, it's okay. Can you walk? How bad did they hurt you?" She coaxed Baby a few steps away from the two remaining attackers.

"Just a fender bender." Baby tried to play it down but Shelly looked more alarmed now than ever.

Dean's plan had been to take off. Get Baby back to the motel, take care of that little cut and then turn in for the night. But now this Shelly was all over Baby and that guy didn't want to stop screaming and in the distance he heard the unmistakable sound of trouble coming their way. Awesome.

"C'mon, let's leave." Dean tried to get Baby away from Shelly.

"She could have internal bleeding." Shelly pointed out. "Probably a concussion. Skull fracture. She needs to see a doctor."

_Melodramatic much?_ Dean thought but bit his tongue and didn't say it out loud.

Baby was fine. Maybe a little sore, may would get a shiner but that was it. Dean had been beaten up worse countless times, he knew how to handle this. And for sure he wasn't keen on finding out what the doctors might find if they had a closer look at Baby.

"Baby?" Dean tilted his head to get her moving.

"You're not better than them, are you?" All of a sudden he had his face full of Shelly. "She has a name for crying out loud."

"Excuse me?" Dean raised an eyebrow at her. Of course she had a name, he had used it all the time. It took him a second to realize what him calling her "Baby" must look like to Shelly.

While Shelly was focused on Dean, Sam used the moment to whisper something into Baby's ear. Dean couldn't hear what he was saying but Baby gave his brother a short nod.

They needed to move before the police arrived. They had no ID for Baby and Shelly knew them as Sam and Dean, her statement would raise some questions about their ID as well. And there was the whole medical thing.

"I don't feel so good." Baby mumbled and practically fell into Sam's arms.

"Mercedes?" Sam asked with the right amount of worry in his voice. "Okay, let's get you over to the car, you need to sit down. Dean, help me."

Dean joint their little charade and was at Baby's other side in a heartbeat.

"Shelly, can you wait for the police here?" Dean asked. "We better bring B... Mercedes to the hospital ourselves, it's quicker that way."

Shelly had an unsure look at the unconscious man on the ground and the other one on his knees, who finally had stopped screaming and was now quietly sobbing to himself. The sirens were close now and for a second Dean feared she would insist on waiting for the police and the ambulance but then she nodded.

"Go, I'll meet you there." She said and Dean felt a little bit sorry for her. She'd meant well and now they were leaving her alone with this mess.

Baby played the swooning woman like she was a born con-woman and they made their way to the front part of the lot where they had parked their substitute car.

"Mercedes?" Dean asked as soon as they were out of earshot. "Seriously, Sam? You named her after a car?"

"No, Dean. I named her after the girl the car was named after."

"That's what you come up with off the top of your head?" They'd rounded the corner and hurried to get to the car. "My god, you are a freak."

Finally in the car and the lights of the arriving police car in the rear-view mirror, Dean breathed easier. He glanced over to Baby in the passenger seat, trying to figure out what emotional state she was in. Physically the damage was minimal but he was worried about the psychical damage. She didn't look bothered, though.

"How did you end up with those guys?" He finally dared to ask.

"He said they wanted to show me something." Baby answered. "And he knew my name."


	10. Chapter 10

"He knew your …? Dean threw her a side-glance. "What?"

For a second Dean thought she was talking about that ridiculous name Sam had come up with. Then he realized she was talking about her real name and Dean mentally kicked himself for giving her that one in the first place.

"He didn't know your name." Dean explained. "It's a term men use to address random women."

"Am I just a random car to you?" For being a woman for less than 24 hours she had the suppressed outraged tone down to an art.

From the backseat Dean heard his brother snickering.

"It's also a term for somebody you care about." Sam helped him out nevertheless and Dean threw him a grateful glance through the mirror, generously ignoring his amused expression.

"For example between lovers." Sam added, holding Dean's gaze. Silently Dean promised him murder in his sleep but Sam seemed unimpressed.

"Do you love me, Dean?" Baby asked in awe, oblivious to the seriousness of that question.

"You're family." Dean answered and hoped Baby knew him well enough to catch the deeper meaning of that statement.

They arrived at the motel before the conversation could become even more awkward.

"Let me have a look at that."

Baby sat down and tilted her head so that Dean could examine the small cut on her cheek.

"It's not that bad." Dean reassured her and took the alcohol Sam handed him. Their big first aid kit was in the Impala's trunk and as such not accessible, but they always had some basic stuff in their bags.

"This might sting a little bit." Dean warned her before he cleaned the wound with the alcohol. He knew the feeling way too well and he was impressed that Baby only hissed out a short breath but didn't flinch away from him.

Sam had a band-aid ready and traded it for the used pad of gauze.

"See?" Dean leaned back to admire his handiwork. "Good as new."

Baby probed the band-aid with her fingertips.

"You're going to actually repair the paint-job when I'm a car again, right?" She asked. "I'm going to rust if you don't do this right, you know that."

Now Dean couldn't hold back his laughter.

"Don't worry." Sam answered instead. "Your human body takes care of the repair by itself. Humans heal."

"Right." She nodded in understanding but was seeking confirmation from Dean.

"You're going to be fine." He reassured her. But the mention of her human form brought back the old question of how long she would stay like this. He glanced at his watch, past midnight. Baby was human for over 24 hours now. Somehow he'd expected for her to change at midnight.

"Why am I still in this form?" Baby caught on on his thoughts and held her hands out to inspect them. They looked like normal human hands as far as Dean could tell. If he didn't look close enough to notice her tire mark fingerprints, that is.

"Normal werewolves." Sam started and stopped with a shake of his head.

Yeah, normal werewolves, that was hilarious.

"Anyway. They usually turn for three nights at the full moon." Sam finished his explanation. "I'm going to start worrying if you haven't turned back after 72 hours."

Dean thought about that and it made sense. In the twisted kind that had become their normal.

"Okay, let's turn in and get over to Bobby's in the morning." Dean rubbed his hands. He couldn't wait for the old man to see Baby. That promised to be fun.

"Dean?" Baby stood up but hesitated now. "Are you mad at me?"

"Why should I?" He was honestly surprised by that question.

"I went off with that guy and his friends." Baby explained with her eyes on the ground. "I should have ..."

"No, no, don't beat yourself up over that." Dean closed the distance between them in one big step and held her at the shoulders. "You didn't know what they were up to. To be honest, I'm not sure you know now what they were up to." He tried to joke but it didn't feel like a joke.

"You should have told us were you're going." Sam threw in which wasn't helpful at all.

"Yeah, but otherwise you were awesome. Like the frigging Terminator." Dean reassured her but Baby didn't seem to really listen to them. She showed a sharp line between her eyebrows, thinking.

"What were they up to?" She finally asked and Dean wasn't sure if he wanted to explain that to her.

"Sex." Was his simple answer. He doubted beating around the bush was the right way to explain this to her. She was more of the straight forward kind of personality.

Now her frown deepened.

"That's not the way you express your interest if you want to have sex with a woman, Dean." She tilted her head and Dean reinforced his promise to murder Sam in his sleep when he heard him snorting with suppressed laughter behind him.

"Well." Dean cleared his throat. "There is the right way to do this and the wrong way. Today you found out about the wrong way. But you were awesome. They got what they'd coming." For a moment he marveled over the beauty of that fight. If you could call it a fight, those guys pretty much knocked themselves out without much help.

"Okay." Sam clapped his hands. "Let's turn in, shall we?"

Baby left after promising to come over, or just scream for Dean, if she needed anything over the night, and a few minute later Dean lay in his bed and stared into the darkness. Next to him he heard Sam breathing and had no doubt that the same thoughts were running through his brother's head.

This had been close. Too close. Baby might not fully realize what could have happened but Dean knew way too well. He didn't want to think about the what-ifs and maybes but he couldn't stop them from running through his head.

"She's fine." Sam said in a low voice. "You got there in time."

Dean thought about faking to be asleep but hmmed instead. Sometimes Sam was like a mind reader or something, a thought which lead to another can of worms he really didn't want to open right now.

"And she was holding herself pretty well against those guys." The amusement was clearly in Sam's voice, chasing away the dark thoughts in Dean's mind about special children and psychic abilities.

"She's badass." Dean said in a dreamy voice and with that thought in mind he drifted off to sleep.

He woke up to a phone ringing. His foggy mind identified it as Sam's and was about to drift back to sleep but Sam took too long to answer and Dean was more on the awake side by then.

"Hello?" Sam answered and that really got Dean's attention. That was a questioning _hello_ which meant Sam didn't know who was on the other end and with them working no case at the moment, and he didn't count Baby as a case, there were very few people out there who had Sam's number but weren't on his contact list.

"Shelly?" Sam asked and both brothers sat straight up in their beds at that name.

"Yeah, we're at the motel." Pause. "No, we weren't at the hospital." Pause. "Wait, what?" Longer pause and Sam was pacing the room now with one hand raking through his sleep tousled hair.

"Don't worry, it's just a misunderstanding." Sam reassured her but his face told a different story. "Are you okay, Shelly?"

By now Dean was out of the bed as well and struggled to get in his jeans.

"We come in and speak to the sheriff. We clear this up, no problem." He said his goodbyes and ended the call. "We have to leave. Now."

"Dude, you gave her your number?" Dean wasn't sure if he wanted to know why they had to leave but he was already packing his stuff. There wasn't much to pack anyway.

"So she could call me if she got in trouble on her way home." Sam said it as if that made perfectly sense. In some way it did, Dean had to admit.

"And we're leaving in a hurry … why?" Dean came out of the bathroom with his toiletries. Looked like he had to skip shaving today.

"Because …" Sam fought his foot into his shoe and tied it angrily. "One of the assholes yesterday is the son of the sheriff. And the doctors say no way the injuries the three fine young men are sporting could have been caused by beating up a girl. And not just because they would never do such a bad thing." Sam spat out the words and Dean felt for the abused shoelace when his brother tied his second shoe.

"Let me guess." Dean teared his gaze from his brother torturing his footwear and stuffed the rest of his belongings into his bag. "We're the bad guys now?"

"It's Shelly's word against the three of them plus the doctor." Sam rolled his shoulders and nearly ripped the zipper off his bag.

"You know we can't help her out." Dean reminded him. "We're both wanted and Baby doesn't even exist. Besides, the last thing I want is the sheriff taking her fingerprints or a doctor having a closer look at her."

"I know." But he didn't like it, that much was clear. "It's just that we're leaving Shelly with this mess."

"Are they accusing her of anything?" Dean asked because that would change things.

"No." Sam shook his head and Dean let out a breath. "She's no scratch on her and the guys haven't said anything about her being involved."

"I can live with that." Reassured Dean had one last look around to make sure he hadn't missed something, zipped his bag close and then leaned over the bed to get his gun from under the pillow. Before he could put it in his waistband, the door burst open.

For a second everybody just stared at each other, the witty words on the sheriff's lips visibly died when he saw the gun in Dean's hand.

Dean's mind provided the very unhelpful but amusing fact that the sheriff looked exactly like Sheriff Buford T. Justice from that old Burt Reynolds move. Complete with Junior at his side but this had to be another son or just a regular deputy because except for the dumbfounded expression he didn't show any injuries.

Dean didn't wait for the "Drop the gun!" or until the officers of the law got their guns fumbled out of the holsters. Without hasty movements he placed the gun on the bed and stepped away from it with his hands stretched out.

"Everybody keeps calm." He said and out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam in a similar position, trying to look as harmless as possible.

"Hands where I can see them." Sheriff Justice had finally found his voice and his own gun which he was now pointing at the brothers. "On your knees."

Hands still in the air Dean got down on his knees and he wondered how long it would take for the FBI to get invited to the party.

He wasn't that worried about himself, he'd been in a tight spot before, same for Sam, and he'd always found a way out. However, he was worried about Baby. He didn't want the sheriff to remember her and he hoped she was smart enough to stay out of this but on the other hand he had no idea how she would cope with being alone all of a sudden. Hell, she didn't even know how to use a phone but he doubted she knew Bobby's number anyway.

Sheriff Justice held them at gun point while Deputy Junior made a hesitating step closer towards Dean, handcuffs dangling from his hand. However, before the cuffs snapped close there was another figure in the doorway.

"Nobody messes with my boys!"


End file.
